Currently my work realm is undergoing a significant amount
of changes. I have had to put my words
into practice, testing them in a very significant way. And I wanted to remind managers out there
faced with similar challenges, some key responses that will likely be exhibited
by your group, and how I have found to deal with those in what I always aspire
to be an effective manner and seems to be working well….so far.
Just as they say, the grieving process is composed of
stages, also is the acceptance/processing of major change (professionally or
personally). Professionally, I have
found consistently the following feelings seem to be consistent when a major
operational change is announced.
The first stage that I have observed is most often SHOCK. During this stage, despite the advantages or
disadvantages of the change to the individual or the group, this is the part
where you hear:
“What?
Why is this
happening?
What can we
do to stop it?
I do not
think I’m going to like this…. And of course,
Why didn’t
anyone ask what we think and
Who’s
decision was this?”
Depending on
the change itself and the dynamic of the group and the timeline to
implementation, this may last minutes or it may be days, weeks, or more. And, most often, they are still trying to
process the communication given to them and are not fully ready to hear out all
the details or be able to ask productive questions regarding the change itself.
Stage
2: Anxiety and fear. Sadly to say, this most often must come
before you can get to acceptance or excitement.
This step usually is also where speculation comes in and imaginations
come to life. Conspiracy theories
regarding reasons for the change and ideas about what is looming next may take
life.
It is very
important at this step to give as much information as you know during stage
2. Thwart any misconceptions before they
can form if possible. Do this: put
yourself in a place where you have just heard said news. Now subtract all the reasoning and rationale
that you know (or suspect) went into the decision-making process for the
change. Then think of the worst case
scenario that you can think of. (ex.
They are making this change because they want to downsize, or they want to
outsource, or we are getting bought out….etc) The game-changer kind of
stuff.
Then with
the knowledge that you have, how do you go about talking yourself off the
ledge. And if you find there are
unanswered questions that could be helpful, try to get those answered if
possible. And if these are things that
are undecided or confidential, then point out the reasons why those particular
details will be shared as soon as you get them.
You cannot get a good result if you can’t be trusted! Share what you can
share.
Now you are
prepared to console and instill some confidence and comfort that the team
needs. EMPATHIZE. By putting yourself in their shoes as you did
above, hopefully you were able to induce at least a tinge of anxiety just
having to worry and try to think and reason through it. Let them know you understand their fears and
perhaps share a couple of anxieties or hesitations of your own about the
unknown, but remember that you set the tone.
So if you are fearful and unsure, they will be too! Be present as much as your work allows and be
human. Remind your team that you are
just that- a TEAM. Your successes are
often due in part to their hard work and input and that your hard work and
input are most often in an effort to
help them be successful and grow and their environment a positive one in
addition to your allegiance to the business/bottom line/”higher-ups”.
Stage
3: Curious. Hopefully you have been able to calm the
storm. At this point, your staff will
likely be open to engaging. You should
be getting questions about the finer details about the change. This is good!!! This means people are trying to digest. I will caution this is not the same as
acceptance, and they will still be weighing how they feel about the change and
whether or not they want to jump ship if it is an extremely impactful change
that will completely change the landscape of their current role or if it will
possibly negatively affect their current work-life balance.
This is
still a positive place to be! There
should be open dialogue. They will want
to know more details from you, how you feel about things, what are your ideas
for what the new world will look like.
This is an opportunity to allow them to give input, share ideas, voice
what they think will be positive as a result of the change. Their neurons will be firing and you can
encourage that activity to be more positive than negative in this stage. The best thing is that you can get valuable
input from them about what they would like to see in their environment that
hasn’t been there before, what they really enjoy. This is a good time to recognize/acknowledge
what about the change people are NOT happy with, but then it yields opportunity
to counteract it with a positive contributed by the group, not just from you.
It is now
that if people are going to take interest in becoming involved as players and
not victims that it will happen. By now
you should have thoroughly explained the “why’s” of the changes, and determined
and voiced if it is negotiable, non-negotiable, fair, unfair, regardless,
everyone should be on the same page as to what is happening and when next steps
occur.
Stage
4: Planning and Implementation. Now that the overall “what it means” has been
processed, it is essential that everyone know their part in the shift. It can be more easily embraced if you have
healthy communication and everyone understands what the changes mean to them
personally and then to the group as a whole.
This is
where you must encourage ownership of the area and the piece each person
contributes to be given.
Stage
5: Acceptance or Rejection/Excitement or
Disgust
Remember
that people tend to accept change if a) they understand fully the why and b) they can mold what the future looks
like after the change in some way and c) can recognize the positive that will
come from it. So hopefully you won’t
have any people on your team that fall into the rejection and disgust
category. If you are careful to be consistent
and persistent throughout the process it is less likely, but as I’ve mentioned
in previous posts, some people just are resistant and may not be happy. Chances are if this is the case with any of
yours, they will leave at some point anyways.
Even if you do the same job for 40 years, it is unlikely for everything
to ALWAYS stay exactly the same. Think
about how we’ve gone from pen and paper to typewriters to computers to sending
emails from our smartphones! If they are
truly grounded and averted to change, it will surely happen at some point. But, remember if someone is fearful of
change, even if they seem like they will never come around, think about the
change involved going to a new place and a new role!! They may just with time decide, if you can’t
beat ‘em, join ‘em.
On the other
side of the coin, you WILL have members on your team excited, and hopefully all
will be accepting. And even if it takes
time to adjust, remember that praise and encouragement, vocalizing you are
grateful for their willingness to be flexible, accepting, and contributing to
the team effort. Then breathe easy and
hopefully the next one won’t be such a WHOPPER J
